Bottle carrier



July 23,1946. l

W. P. ROCKAER I BOTTLE CARRIER Fil-ed sept. s, i944 2 sheets-sheet;

July 23, 1946. W` RQCKER 21,404,532

' y BOTTLE CARRIERl l Filed sept. aI 1944 2 sheets-sheet- 2 www Patented July 23, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT t OFFICE, t 'i l v 2,404,532 f r l BOTTLE CARRIER s William Parks Rocker, Atlanta.,l Ga., assigner to Southern Spring BedfCompany, Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Georgia l n Application September 8, 1944, Serial No. 553,229

4claims. ((1224-48) s ent invention possesses all of the advantages and is capable of performing all of the functions of the carrier disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,333,954, granted to William P. Rocker and J. B. Taylor on November 9; 1943; Among these are the durability, relative rigidity, and long life Vof the carrier,- as well as the specia1 features ofconstruction which enable the carrier to rmly ernbrace the bottles when lifted by the bail and to be folded or collapsed into relatively flat condition when not in use.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide in a carrier of this general type, means for ensuring that the carrier when lled shall remain in a fully extended upright position, without danger of collapsing. It is customary in displaying the bottled goods for ready sale, to fill a number of the carriers and stack them, usuallyin the form of a pyramid, upon'the retailers floor, counter, or other flat base. It is desirable therefore that each individual carrier be maintained in its upright position to preserve the equilibrium of the stack, especially .when one or more carriers are removed therefrom, or even if thedisplay stack is jarred or bumped by customersor by the shopping carts generally erriployed in self-service markets where carriers of the type described are widely used. Y Locks or latching devices, or other mechanical contrivances or attachments, probably could be devised to accomplish the purpose stated, but such devices would not only increase the cost-l of productionfbut would prove a nuisance to both the storekeeper and the customer." The present invention therefore provides novel-means incorporated inthe structure of the carrier itself which willensure the stability of the carrier once it is filled with thebottles or other articles to be displayed or carriedthereby.

VThe invention, in vits preferred form, contemplates the provision of a substantially,rectangular collapsible skeleton frame having a bottom grid, sideY and'end frames, vand a bail ori handle, the various elements up to a certain `point corresponding to equivalentelement's disclosed in the patent to which reference l'has been made. In the instant case, however, each of the side frame members is continuedfdownwardly to the extreme bottom Vof the'device fand rests upon the :surface intended 2 upon which the carrier' is supported at any given time. -The lower-most parts 'of the side frames are turned inwardly toward the center of the' bottom of thelcarrier and are pivotally connected with the respective side edges of the bottom member along lines spaced somewhat inwardly from the planes of the side frames. f

These pivotal connections comprise two ofthe main pivotl points for collapsing the carrier,'and f theprovisions just described make it necessary to move the bottom frame or rack of the carrier upwardly from the surface'upon which the carrier is resting in order to collapse the device.

However, when the `carrier'is loaded,A the weight Thel novel carrier may be constructed of metal rods or strips or any other suitable relatively stiff but slightlyresilient material. 'The several parts may be soldered .at allvpoints of rigid connec. tionY andthe pivot joints may 11e-provided by either rivets or eyes or loops bent into therod orwire elements. 5.,: 'Y

Other objects and'vr features of novelty'will'be apparent from the following v speciii'cation 'when read in connection'with the accompanying, drawings in which one embodiment of theinvention is illustrated by way of example. In the drawings: Figure l is a perspective view of a carrier embodying the principles' of 'the invention, and shown in its fully extended position and sustaining the weight of its load of bottles from the bail or handle;

Figure 2 is an end view of the Ycarrier showing in solid lines the position of the parts when the carrier is fully loaded and with the 'load' carried by the surface uponV which the carrier rests, and in dotted lines the position of certain of the parts when'the rload is supported bythe handle as in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end view of the carrier in partially collapsed position, indicating graphically the toggle-like movement of the parts whereby the load forces the carrier toward erect or fully open position; Y Y

Figure 4 is an end view ofthe carrier in fully collapsed position, as for storage or transportation inV unloaded condition; l s I Figure 5 is a side view of thecarrier substantiallyrin the condition shown in solid lines in The bottom member. I2 comprises the two side bars I3 Vwhich maybe' formed of fairly heavy wire. Secured to the side barsv I 3Y at their ends and extending from one bar to the other across `the length of thecarrier are the spaced slates I4 which are preferably made ofV sheet metal and attached to theV bars I3' by Welding. Each end of each ofthe bars I3 is bent Vto form an eye I 5. Y

yEach Yof Vthe two side frames II of the carrier comprises a generally U-shaped wire element I6, the lower bar I'I of the; U being offset inwardly from the plane of the uprightelements I8 and connected thereto bythe short end portions'l. The lower portion VI1 ofthe element I6 is receivedi adjacent its ends in the eyes I5 at oppo- Ysiteends ofthe bottom member'lZ.

Y Secured ras by Welding to the upper ends of the `side uprights IB ofthe side member element YISistheuppe'r side'rbarf20 whichV may be in the form of Sarlat strip having inwardly'bentarms V2| at'eachvend thereof;Y A similar flat strip 22 'is secured adjacentthe lower portions of .the uprights Ir8'of the side elements andthis element falso has vinwardly,turned end'portionsr23.. The

'elements' I6, '20, and l22 thus comprise the skele- 'ton` side frame'niembers II Yof the carrier which are pivoted to .the bottom member I2 along Vvthe upper portion of the carrier. In the solid line position, theV upper side bars are at their greatest distance apart and when in this position the bottles may be very readily inserted or removed from the carrier. Whenrthe loaded carrier is lifted by the bail 32, the toggle 29 is broken, the

pivot point 33 moving upwardly andthe side bars n v2'0"being drawn "inwardlytowardy eachother to rmly grip the bottles.

One of the more important features of the in- ,A Vention will now be described with particular referenceto Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings.

As previously indicated, when the carrier is in its normal'open or erect position, the lower pord 151 tions I9 of vthe side frame elements I6 rest at Vthe points A25 on the surface upon which the caraxes of therod portions I1; It will be notedthat 1 these lpivotal Yor hinged axes are displaced in` Y wardlyifrom the planesof the side frames by a distance equal .to the `length, of the loiset portionsI .I9 of the elements I6, and also that when inffully openedrposition the lower end's'of the upright portions I 8 ofthe vside'frame'element I6 rest 'directly upon the 'supporting surface as at the points 25. i Y l Y VVTlie inwardly directedfend'arms 23of the lower 'side/bars" 2'2,are connected'r at each end nof the i carrier. bythe link' ,21; this pivotal connection i being eifected'by means: of the rivets 28. 'The inwardly Vdirected arms2| 'of the upper side bars 2IIV are similarly connected at *each endr'ofthe carrier, but by means of the'doubleylinkag'e or toggleconnection29" the toggle being pivotally connected to`thear'ms 2I by meanso'f the-rivets 30, and'ithe" 'tw'o' parts'of the toggle being'pivjotally joined Vto each other andV to the adjacent loweriend'of the bail or handle 32, asibymeans ofthe rivets *33.Y

vIt is noteworthy'that-the'centers lof Vthe -pivot points oithe'si-demembers and the bottom frame along thebar ILiand-thepivot-points 23 and 3i) between the-.intermediate and upper rportions of I the side frames and the connecting linkages, all normally occupy the same vertical .plane upon i eachsideofgthe carrier, andrinvany case the respective pivot points upon either side of the carrier occupy the same straightY line. This will be 3 clearly understood froman inspectionof Figures 2 ,and V3V of the'drfawings. that the' arms 2'I and 23 of the side frames, and

c the cross connection linkages 21 and 29 substani tially comprise the end'fr'ames of the carrier.

It will alsoV be noted vlihe showing in 4Figure 2 clearly demonstrates the-*function of the -toggle Vconnection 29` at the rierwis supported. Now upon collapsing the carrier inpeither direction from this open or extended position, the pivotpoint I'I between the arms I 9 of the side frames and the side portions of the bottom member I 3 will' rise at'ron'e side of "they carrier and that particular sideframe will fulcrum upon the point of contact 25. The pivot point I'I at the opposite'side of the carrier will however remain at the same height, but the arm I9 and the point of contact 25 at this opposite side of the carrier will rise'and' swing about the pivot axis I'I. The end View shown in Figure 3 indicat-esk very clearly the extent of this movement when the'carrier has been moved to the partially collapsed position shown. It will be seen that the pivotal axis I'I upon the `righthand side of the carrier has 'risen through a distanced from its original position, and the floor or'bottom rack member- I2 at this side of the carrier has Vrrisen Y a correspondingdistance above the supporting surface. Therefore any weight applied to the bottom ofthe carrier willV exert a downward force upon the axis vI'I'in the direction of the arrow ci. This will tendY to restore the Vcarrier to its fully open position, the adjacent side frame I|"tend Y ing toY move in the directioniof the arrow b. It lwillV thus beY clearly understood that any force resting uponthe bottom member I3 will tend to maintain the carrier in its fully openY position against any forces which would tend to collapse the carrier, since any-such forces would necessarily have tof raise VoneY side or the Vother ofthe :bottom 'frame about the fulcrums Fat the` points K' from -the'center'line of the folded construction, Y this displacementbeing substantially the length of the offset portions I9 ofthe side elements.' It

will be seen thatv allzof the pivot points `of the structure at both sides -of the carrier have been brought' into alignment, these pivots being 'fthe points I'I, 28, 30, and 33. 'Thus' the carrier is brought to a substantially flat positionfrwh'er'eby they Vmay be stacked for -storage'or transportation when not in use.A Y f Y Y i vWithin the purview of the invention, both the bottom'member [Zand the side membersfI-I, or either o'f'thein Vmay be. made solid 'insteadof in skeleton form, and .in any case, the Aside members may be thought: of as ycomprising a flat planar body portion with inwardly directed side and bottom edges or flanges. Furthermore, advertising panels of sheet material may be secured in any suitable way to the side frames.

In accordance with a modiiication of the invention, the bottom hinge bar I1 of the side frame elements I I may be omitted and the inner ends of the offset portions I9 made into eyes or loops which form pivotal connections with the eyes of the bottom member I2. This alternative arrangement interferes in no way with the functioning of the stabilizing features since the side members will still fulcrum upon the contact points 25 and the pivot points between the interconnected eyes will rise just as in the case .of the pivot axisV l1 of the rst embodiment.

It is understood that various other changes and modications may be made in the device as illustrated and described herein without departing from the scope of the invention as determined by the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters patent is:

l. A collapsible bottle carrier comprising a rigid rectangular bottom member, a pair of oppositely disposed relatively rigid side frames, substantially L-shaped in vertical section, the bottom bars of the L of each frame normally adapted to rest upon any surface upon which the carrier is supported, said bottom bars being inwardly offset toward each other and hingedly connected with the side edges of the bottom member, and means pivotally connecting the side frames at points spaced from the bottom member for maintaining said side frames in ap-V proximate parallelism under all conditions, all whereby in order to collapse the carrier by swinging movement at the hinged connections, one of said hinged connections and the major portion of the bottom member must be elevated as the angle portion of the adjacent L-shaped side frame fulcrums on the supporting surface and, contrariwise a load on said bottom member when the carrier is in partly collapsed position will tend to erect the carrier.

2. A collapsible bottle carrier comprising, a rigid rectangular bottom member, a pair of oppositely disposed relatively rigid side frames, the side frames having mutually inwardly projected substantially E-shaped portions at each end thereof, the corresponding lowermost bars of the E-shaped end portions at each end of the side framesbeing pivoted to the ends of the side portions of the bottom member, the corresponding middle bars of said end portions being connected by means of bars also being connected by means of links, saidy 6 links, and the corresponding upper bars also be ing connected by means of links, said links and said bottom member being all of substantially the samel length, whereby upon collapsing the carrier about all pivot points the side frames are maintained in parallelism.

3. A collapsible bottle carrier comprising a rigid rectangular bottom member, a pair of oppositely disposed relatively rigid side frames, the side frames having mutually inwardly projecting substantially E-shaped portions at each end thereof, the corresponding lowermost bars of the E-shaped end portions at each end of the side frames being pivoted to the ends of the side portions of the bottom member, the corresponding middle bars of said endV portions being connected by means of links, and the corresponding upper links and said bottom member being all of substantially the same length, whereby upon collapsing the carrier about all pivot points the side frames are maintained in parallelism, the bars of the E being also substantially of the same length whereby when the carrier is fully collapsed, the bottom members and the links are in the same plane, while the two side frames are offset respectively to one side or the other of said plane to distances substantially equal to the length of said bars. Y

4. A collapsible bottle carrier comprising a rigid rectangular bottom member, a pair of oppositely disposed relatively rigid side frames,` ther side frames having mutually inwardly projecting substantially E-shaped portions at each end thereof, the corresponding lowermost bars of the E-,shaped end portions at each end of the side frames being pivoted to the ends of the side portions of the bottom member, the corresponding middlebars of said end portions being connectedby means of links, and the corresponding upper bars being connected by toggles, and a bail pivotally connected to the center pivots of said toggles,

said links, said toggle, and said bottom member being all substantially the same length, whereby upon collapsing the carrier about all pivot points the side frames are maintained in parallelism, the bars of the E being also substantially of the same length whereby when the carrier is fully collapsed, the bottom membenthe links,

the toggle, and said bail'are in partially-overlapping relationship in the same plane, whilev the two side frames are offset respectively to one side or the other of said frame to distances substantially equal to the length of said bars.

WILLIAM PARKS ROCKER. 

